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Thursday, June 26, 2014

There are but a handful of Rotarians throughout the world who attain as much as 50 years of service to Rotary. The Rotary Club of Chariton has one such member, Lynn Johnson, who for five decades has served the local club, the district and Rotary International. In thinking back, Johnson said, "I grew up with Rotary," and proceeded to remember the people and programs that influenced his life of service.

Johnson began with his father, Russell Johnson, who was running Johnson Machine Works at the time. "When I went to school, there was no school cafeteria, so we walked home for lunch each day. So I would be at home when Dad would come in from the plant and get ready to attend the Rotary meeting. It was on Fridays then as it has been all these years. So in 1964 at the invitation of Dr. Glen Garton, I became a member of the club myself. It was just natural for me to say yes."

Lynn remembered one of his earliest experiences with how Rotary members are so willing to help one another. "I had asthma when I was younger. Dr. Yocom was a Rotarian and suggested to my father that we go to Duluth in August to get some relief from the pollen and its after effects. Dad had hay fever. This would have been in the late 40's or early 50's. So we went to Duluth. When our symptoms did not get better, dad took out his Rotary Directory that he always kept in the car. He called the President of the Duluth Rotary Club. We not only got a recommendation for a doctor, we got appointments for the very next day!"

His work for Rotary includes a term as President of the Chariton Club (1968-69), the District Governor's area representative, the representative of District 600 in South Africa, member of the Paul Harris couples exchange committee and forum leader on Rotary Foundation at district assemblies. Johnson was also chairman of the Rotary group study exchange committee. At that time Johnson was vice-president of Johnson Machine Works.

In ending, Lynn Johnson said, after 50 years in Rotary, he would describe it as an organization composed of many kinds of men and women - some more fully inspired with zeal than others. But all members, at one time or another, have managed to progress towards their ideals while having a good deal of plain, wholesome, fun. Some of this fun is in the form of programming, some of it is in the fellowship of the weekly meetings or other Rotary gatherings, and some of it is in the quiet satisfaction of a job well done.

Demolition work has begun on the old Lucas County Law Center building on Linden Ave in Chariton. Savage Dirtworks LLC began tearing down the building on June 26th.

It will cost approximately $22,000 to tear the building down and refurbish the land it's on back to lawn. The money to pay for this will come from the local option sales tax out of the 2015 fiscal year county budget.

Lucas County Supervisor Steve Laing said he didn't know how long it would take to tear the building down. "We haven't asked for a time limit on it," he said. Laing said that when the demolition is completed, the lot the building is on will be filled in with compacted clay, a top coat of dirt and seed. It will then be a vacant lot.

The law center building was built in 1923 and it had outlived its usefulness. "The building was beyond upkeep for responsible restorage. The cost of repair was almost prohibitive. The roof on it was also coming in and repairing the roof wasn't a practical solution," Laing said.

Earlier this year, Ames Environmental Inc. of Slater was hired by the count to inspect the old law center to determine if asbestos was in it. They did the initial inspection of the building and took all the samples to determine where the asbestos was. Asbestos was found in just two places including around the edges of the roof lining where it was sealed. There was also a very small amount found it in the furnace duct work.

REW Services in Des Moines was hired to remove the asbestos. The cost of this was $4,300 and will be paid for from the local option sales tax out of the 2015 fiscal year county budget.

Laing's father, Mahlon Laing, actually lived in the old law center building while Mahlon's father, P.T. Laing was the sheriff during the mid 1940's. At that time, there was an apartment above the law center where the Sheriff and his family lived. Laing's mother, Vera Laing, cooked meals for the prisoners in the apartment's kitchen.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

The annual, old-fashioned "Peanut Day" festivities were held on June 17th at the Lucas County Historical Society Museum complex consisting of the A.J. Stevens House, four galleries in the Lewis Building, Otterbein Church, Pioneer Log cabin, Pioneer barn, Blacksmith Shop and - celebrated building of the evening - The Puckerbrush School, newly re-opened after comprehensive restoration. Museum Director, Frank Myers, Museum Curator Marilyn Johnson, and many of the museum's volunteers were on hand to guide visitors through the buildings and explain historical facts relating to the buildings and contents.

Dr. Phillip Sundquist, M.D. of Chariton has been named as a Leading Physician of the World and Top obstetrician and gynecologist in Chariton by The International Obstetricians and Gynecologists. As a result of receiving this award. Dr. Sundquist has qualified for inclusion in the 2013-2014 edition of the Leading Physicians of the World, which is an annual list of recognition of top physicians.

Dr. Sundquist, 46, was notified this past February that he was nominated for the award and he received a certificate and glass trophy for it in May. He doesn't know who nominated him for the award. Approximately one in 1,000 physicians receive the award every year in the United States.

Dr. Sundquist owns and runs his own clinic, Red Haw Family Medical Center, in Chariton. He does family practice and OB/GYN Fellowship. Of the OB/GYN, he does primarily obstetrics and some gynecology. He has practiced in Chariton for seven years and has ran his own clinic here since September 2010.

Dr. Sundquist received the award based on providing excellent obstetrical care to Chariton women. he said the officials in charge of the award reviewed his records and charts and determined he was worthy of it.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Chariton Area Chamber/Main Street held their 2014 annual meeting at Carpenter's Hall. Eight prominent awards were presented at the meeting including the 2014 Citizen of the Year, which was awarded to Christoper Watkins.

Saturday, June 07, 2014

Oscar Ortiz celebrated his retirement from public education with a final performance directing the Chariton Community Band concert on Saturday, June 7th. Following the concert, a reception was held for Mr. Ortiz at the Chariton Community Center. Light refreshments were served.

The Chariton Community Band concert was performed on the Larry J. Clark Memorial Gazebo located on the northeast side of the courthouse lawn. If weather had interrupted the concert it would have been held at the Johnson Auditorium in the Chariton Community Center.

Ortiz taught instrumental music in four Iowa communities during his career. Over 36 years Ortiz taught students in various schools, completing his career at Chariton Middle School for the last 15 years.

Thursday, June 05, 2014

Sixty volunteers representing 11 hospitals in south central Iowa gathered at the Lucas County Health Center on June 5th to share ideas on how to better serve their communities. Linda Baynes, the Volunteer Services Director for LCHC worked with Annette Rice and Pam Anderson from the Iowa Hospital Association Auxiliary/Volunteer Board to plan what was a movie-themed day - from "Reeling in the Ideas" to the decor that brought Hollywood and the movies to the hospital's meeting rooms.

Local Volunteers Kaitlyn McCurdy, Martha Milnes, Becky Struve, Lucinda Burkhalter and Gert Patterson acted as session leaders for five round-table meetings where ideas were "reeled in", according to the movie theme. The round-table discussions focused on how to encourage the younger generation to volunteer, fundraising, starting new programs, customer service, and gift shops. LCHC's Marketing director, Jena Danner, took participants on tours of the hospital facilities.

This is the second time Lucas County Health Center has hosted the statewide event, the last time was 14 years ago. Baynes said she always attends wherever the gatherings are held because of the new ideas that she brings back to our community.

Tuesday, June 03, 2014

A few short weeks ago across the nation hundreds of thousands of students graduated, but it was a graduation of only five that drew the attention of just over fifty people in the Education Center at Lucas County Health Center on June 3rd. Congratulations were the order of the day for the Project SEARCH class of 2014. Project SEARCH is a training and education program for students with disabilities. Excited and nervous to graduate, the five students expressed the same feelings of most graduates on graduation day. But unlike other graduates, these five were graduating with more than a diploma. Thanks to Project SEARCH, they are each ready for a career. Two students, in fact, are already filling open positions at Lucas County Health Center, who partnered with Mosaic to provide this unique training and employment opportunity.

Regarding the Lucas County Tourism Site

Under the visitors package and then under Historic Lucas County (Museums), the information is not correct. For the answer to questions for the Lucas County Genealogical Society contact us at www.lucasgene@hotmail.comwith your questions. Thank you.

Chariton and Russell Newspapers 1867-2005

Are you looking for a family from the Lucas County Iowa area? The Lucas County Genealogy Society has indexed all the past and present newspapers from 1867 - 2005. These papers include the past and present newspapers from both Chariton and Russell. The genealogy department has all these papers on microfilm and they are available to the public if you want to do your own researching. You may also contact them by e-mail, snail-mail or phone if you want them to research a family for you. The Genealogy department is located in the Chariton Public Library in the Family History Room on the bottom floor of the library. Their physical address is: Lucas County Genealogical Society %Chariton Library, 803 Braden Ave., Chariton Iowa 50049-1742. The telephone number is 641-774-5514. E-mail address is: lucasgene@hotmail.com.

Be sure to check out the index at the Chariton Library website. Select Chariton Newspaper Index. You will need Adobe Reader (you can download a free version of this program from the Internet) in order to access these indexes. Good luck with your research.

The Wadle Families of Iowa – Book I : Anthony Wadle – Published and Donated by Moe Wadle

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